Livestock for Health Project (L4H)
Malnutrition
About this trial
This is an interventional prevention trial for Malnutrition focused on measuring Children under five years, Pregnant and Lactating women, Livestock feeds, Nutrition counselling, Undernutrition, Pastoralism, Kenya
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Household inclusion criteria
Only households meeting the following study criteria will be recruited:
- Presence of a mother (lactating or non-lactating) and child 3 years and below
- Ownership of livestock with 1-6 tropical livestock units
- Household consent to participate in the study o Including willingness to have 1-2 tropical livestock units (1-2 cattle or camel, 10-20 sheep/ goats) at household
Exclusion Criteria:
Households excluded in the study will have the following criteria:
- Households that do not consent to participate in the study
- Households unwilling to adhere to the study protocol including feeding instructions and retaining the study animals at the household for milk access
Sites / Locations
- Washington State University
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Arm 3
Experimental
Experimental
No Intervention
Intervention arm 1: Livestock feed only
Intervention arm 2: 1. Provision of Livestock feeds, 2. Nutrition counselling
Control arm
Households in villages assigned to intervention arm 1 will receive a pre-defined amount of feed to maintain two tropical livestock units for a total of 60 days during the dry season (when animals would be moved away in search of pastures).
Households recruited into intervention arm two will receive livestock feeds similar to intervention arm 1 and will be enrolled in a nutritional education and counselling program through Infant and Young Child Nutrition (IYCF) feeding program and household food utilization. The IYCF program through the Baby Friendly Community Initiative (BFCI) will include the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months, continued breastfeeding up to the age of two years, adequate complementary feeding, hygiene promotion and the uptake of child health services including immunization, treatment of illness, moderate and severe acute malnutrition and micro-nutrient supplementation.
The households recruited under this arm will receive none of the two study interventions. These households will receive identical assessment and data collection like other study households in the study. Their access to support through other interventions will be monitored. Households within the control arm will receive nutritional counselling and education given outside of the project. This is mainly at health facilities when mothers present for antenatal care or visit health facilities seeking healthcare. On some occasions in places where community health volunteers are present, nutritional counselling and education may be provided at the community level. The study instruments have been designed to collect information at the household level if such nutritional counselling and education has been provided.